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Hello All, So after a long winter of waiting, I have decided to convert my Esb to a Rotj. I have always had a problem with my Esb paint up, and since it was a first attempt I always knew i might convert it. I started my Fett as a SE build-up (unknown to me at the time). When i first started i had no clue which helmet went with what. My visor installation has always bugged me, due to warping when left out in the sun.
OK so here goes, my first attempt at an ROTJ helmet!

First this is a comparison of my first ESB to my (almost) finished ROTJ

The visor cutout shape, and the angle of the manibles has always bothered me. For this paintup i wanted to make sure they were more accurate. This is a line up of the real rotj helmet,vs mine.

I have a Asok cc budget, which the mandibles appear to be alittle too round. So in this build i did a quick fix to change this.
First i added bondo behind the area being removed. Dremeled the area, re-bondoed and painted!

Next i did the ears and weathering on the back panel. the back panel was weathered with brown and black pastels.
The ears i used a rustoleum metallic silver paint as a base. masked off the edges around the edges, and then weathered again with brown and black pastels

The next thing that i added was the killstripes. I started with Rafal's template and altered it to fit on a curved surface. I printed out two. One of the templates i cut all of the killstripes out perfect, with no damage. Then using the other one to size up the location, I add mask to the damaged areas of the Killstripes. I put on the stencil when the dome paint is still alittle tacky, holding the stencil down flush with the surface.

Awesome work MrDJ - looking like a really great conversion! Withe the little triangles, I found when studying the ref pics for my ROTJ, that I believe that blue triangle to actually be black. It has some white weathered in it too, but if its blue, it's one of the darkest midnight blue shades you can find. I added a pic from the gallery for reference, but in this pic, you can actually see it is also darker than the upper cheek colour. I also believe the red triangle is a different, brighter red than used on the mandibles - once again weathered with white in the corners. But a great paint up my good man! Peace

@Jayvee- Thank you for the advice, your work is truly an inspiration. I have that exact looking red in a spray paint, and the black as well. I guess i rushed that part But before some weathering, I will tape off the triangles and change the colors.

He just joined the 501st in December. He's very new. Only 3 months before that in Sept. 2012, another ESBer from Bay City joined up, and he was the very first ESB Boba in Michigan! All others before then made ROTJ or ROTJ:SE costumes. Think about that.....The 501st was 15 years old when the very first Michigan guy with an ESB Boba came forth. LOL

This is what i have so far (minus cape and braids coming from Woodman, minus a real vintage belt and us diver co buckle from ebay, and minus resin studs from ebay)

Next i am trying to get a mannequin from ebay? and a rotj jumpsuit from Arkady

I bought the armor i have from Redkraytdragon (which is awesome) i am debating on whether not I am going to scratch build the gauntlets or purchase them from RKD. no matter what i think i will be getting the greeblies from him!!

So much to do, it can be overwhelming at times, but i am pacing along here!

First thing that I did today was drill holes for the studs to connect the collar and back plate.

For the studs, i make a line corner to corner to find the center of the stud

Next i drill a hole just wide enough and deep enough for the bolts i will be using. be very careful not to go too deep here, it is a good idea to wrap tape around the drill bit at the point it will be too deep.

Next I drill a hole about half the depth of the last hole and just wide enough to fit the nut.

The nut should be just barely bigger than the second hole drilled. I used some pliers to slowly "push" the nut down into the hole, until the nut is flush with the bottom of the stud.

I used Rafal template to line up the holes for the collar plate. i Drilled the holes in the collar plate, then lined the collar plate onto the back armor and used a marker to mark the holes for the back armor. Using the studs now I am able to attach the armor together.

Next, I painted my RKD armor. Last night I prepped the armor( sanding from 60grit to 100grit to 150grit) and dremeled the edges. I also made the slots in the left chest plate bigger for my Fettronics chest lights.

I started with the metallic rustoleum paint, then used a 0000grit steel wool to knock down some of the shine

Then comes the yellow/orange layer, then the ESB left behind green paint, and finally the top green. I didnt take pics of the stages of masking and painting, because we have all seen it at this point!
Once fully painted i removed the masking and hit everything with more 0000grit steelwool

Then I took some shots in the sunlight,
Then one with the flash outside

Next I am going to add some brown and black pastels, but that is a job for tomorrow!

So I did some weathering and mounting of the armor.
I used magnets to mount the armor, so their placement is customizable and not permanent.
I also added the right chest decal that i got from Bobamaker

I'm an empire guy, but this really makes me think about Jedi. good job.

Exactly my words too!

I really love the look of the helmet and the armor on the mannequin! The collar and the chest plates are in the correct place, the center diamond should be lowered a bit and you should do the same with the abdominal plate too (the lower edge of the abdominal plate should line up with the back plate's lower edge).

How well my new armor stencils (and templates) align to the RKD armor? Are there major differences?